Sliding door closing devices prevent the door from closing too fast and hitting against an external frame, side wall or frame. They prevent the hand from being crushed or damage to the door structure.
From patent description US2013167444A1, a sliding door arrangement is known, in which the force of a rapidly closing door is dampened by a gas shock absorber mounted in a guide rail. A pin is attached to the door, which, while closing, engages with a gripper attached at the end of the shock absorber.
From Polish utility model application W.120907, a sliding door closing device is known, which comprises three systems for shock absorbing and gripping, spring tension adjustment and an adjustable device mounting inside the guide rail. While sliding (opening) the door, the shock absorbing and gripping system is tensioned by the spring tension adjustment system, and an engagement pin is released from a driver, and the door continues sliding freely. While closing, the rapidly closing door with the engagement pin hits its driver, the shock absorbing and gripping system is released, the door is braked and energy is dissipated, and the door continues closing slowly, controlled by the spring tension adjustment system, until it closes completely.
Solutions known from the above descriptions are able to brake rapidly closing doors, yet they are difficult to open since, until the shock absorber is released, the resistance of the shock absorbing system has to be overcome. This is particularly difficult for doors without handles or strips intended for opening.
The purpose of the invention is to develop a sliding door closing device that will brake a rapidly sliding door leaf and close it to make contact with a side edge, but would allow easy and effortless opening at the same time.
The door closing device, according to the invention, has a body. The body, in its upper part, has longitudinal holes in the side walls, located in the vicinity of the body ends. In the lower part of the body, there is a longitudinal component located in parallel to the base, which serves as a pusher, and—in the upper part of the body—above the pusher, there is a slider with lateral holes at the ends.
Inside the slider, there are two chambers. In one of them, there is a spring and a choke of the closing device, and in the other chamber, the gripper of the closing device is fixed slidably, connected with the closing device choke and which remains in contact with the closing device spring. The end part of the slider, at the side of the spring and choke, is terminated with a hooked attachment. To one of the external walls of the body, the spring and—on the opposite side—the choke of the opening device is mounted. The ends of the spring and choke of the opening device are permanently attached to the body wall and—on the other side—connected with a lateral joiner placed through holes in the body and in the slider. On one of the ends, the body is fitted with the rotary and spring mounted slider gripper, which remains in contact with the pusher, and is provided with an attachment that fits to the one at the end of the slider. On the opposite side of the body, there is a permanently fixed housing in which there are two rollers arranged in parallel to the body base, whereby one roller is movable and one is stationary. The movable roller is fitted in a support that is spring-mounted to the housing, and its side surface remains in contact with the pusher end.
Preferably, the closing device body has the shape of a channel bar, which, in the cross section, is narrower in the lower part than in the upper part.
The sliding door closing device, according to the invention, features an easy door opening function with an opening system comprising a slider with an attachment and gripper on one side, properly shaped support of the moving roller on the other side, and a pusher contacting the roller support with a slider gripper, the opening device spring, and the choke. The opening system allows for opening of the door by pushing the door on a vertical strip or on the edge. Pushing on the door moves the support on the moving roller and simultaneously moves the pusher on the support wedge and releases the pusher from the gripper. In one variant of the door closing device, according to the invention, the pusher releases the slider from the gripper by a pushing movement, and in the other variant, it does so by a pulling movement. By opening the opened door, tension is placed on the closing device spring with the gripper of the closing device moving inside the slider. The stroke of the slider is determined by the length of longitudinal holes in the body. Preferably, the length of the holes is approx. 25 mm. When tension is placed on the spring, the gripper is locked, and the door moves freely on the guide rails. While closing, the closing device gripper is released by the door guide gripper, and the door is closed by placing tension on the opening spring and moving the slider in the body and locking it with the slider gripper at the same time. The closing spring pulls the door to the inner side of the cabinet.
The closing device, according to the invention, is provided with components with the additional function of releasing the door closing system, thanks to which, at first, the door is much easier to open, and activating the opening mechanisms requires only a slight push on the door or on a vertical profile in which the door is fixed.